Moving from Level 4 to Level 3 - Shifts in thinking

Yesterday the government gave guidelines to what a shift from Level 4 in this lockdown to Level 3 would look like.  For educators it was a lot to think about.
Under alert level 3 students from Year 1 to Year 10 are able to attend school and this is voluntary.  For students of parents who will be returning to work, this will be a relief as it will for students who are unable to learn via distance learning.    The government do advise that children who are able should remain at home.  Children, young people and staff who are at greater risk should also remain at home.
So what does that mean for us?  As an estimate I would say that 60-70% of our families have internet connectivity.  Of those families, a number do not have a suitable device for students to access online learning or they have to share the device between siblings.  Currently we have 2 staff in the senior school who are ready for home learning and are running online programmes during the lockdown.  Our remaining staff are working via phone, text and email messaging while supporting children with hard copy home learning packs and other resources.  For those at school it will look different.  There will be fewer students on school grounds and they will stay in small groups.  Some teachers will will be teaching students at school while others will be providing distance learning.  The biggest concern staff have will be the idea of 'social distancing' in school, especially with younger students.  How can this accomplished?  If we have some students working from home and others at school, how will teachers run parallel programmes?  Does this mean an increase in workload?
There is a lot to think about but the most important thing will be keeping it all in perspective and not panicking.  I know some staff will have major concerns and voice them.  My job will be to keep our sights set above the line, looking for the positives and how we can make this work.  In many respects this is the exciting bit, this is the paradigm shift I talked about in my previous post.  We, our community, are masters of our own destiny in this shift and we need to be open to new ways to learn, new things to learn and be pragmatic in our approach.
When meeting with my teams I will seek their opinion on what Level 3 means to them, what the positives will be, what concerns they may have, how they envisage it might look like in their classrooms, what they would like to do, what they think they may need to make it happen, what questions they have.  I don't expect answers right away, they will need to go away and ruminate on their thoughts and the discussion we will have had...as will I.
Most importantly for me and our team is the wellbeing of all involved.  What is right for us will be of our making and we will approach this with resilience, a positive mindset and a can do attitude!

Education in Lockdown - A paradigm shift

The lockdown came through the COVID-19 global pandemic.  It was swift and scary and we were certainly on the back foot when it was announced.  The coronavirus had been in the news since the beginning of the year, with the virus spreading across the world and really hit NZ early in March.  Things ramped up about a week before the lockdown was announced so during that week, we were making plans, having meetings, gathering ideas for what learning might look like once lockdown started...we knew it was inevitable.  The speed at which it came we were not prepared for, the government gave us literally an hour.  The announcement was made at 1:45pm and school closed to students at 2:45pm.  Schools were then given 2 days to prepare some semblance of learning for home.  Teams of teachers met and discussed what they were going to give to their students and got to work, resourcing, photocopying and writing information to put in packs for parents to pick up from the school office.  It was a very stressful time but staff showed amazing resilience and care in getting things done for their learners.  Staff were instructed to make contact with their families, touch base and offer support with the learning packs that were sent home.  Of the 350 students in the school, 60% of our families picked up their packs.  40% hadn't, so teachers made particular efforts to connect with those parents and try to email the student's learning to them.

The Ministry of Education informed us that the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday of the first week were considered school days, the following two weeks were to be considered the holidays (moved forward by 2 weeks) and that learning from home would begin the day after Easter Tuesday - 15th April.
So, it is now the second week of the holidays and I've spent much of my time sifting and digesting a myriad of information constantly being emailed and phoned through from the ministry and other sources.  It has been draining, but at the same time, quietly exciting as the realisation of the shift in educational paradigm is happening as we move through this lockdown.  There is still much to be done and as a staff we have much to learn.  Some staff have been dabbling in the digital space for a while, some have attempted very little in it.  This situation has opened the eyes of many to the affordances that digital spaces offer learning.  We have had online meetings this week, a new experience for many of us.  We have shared ideas to support learning at home, and we have reconnected with families to check online capabilities.  Our government will have a lot of work to do in our community as many homes have no connectivity so learning packs are being delivered to them before Term 2 begins.
It is a work in progress.  A new direction.  A new paradigm.  It's exciting...